Medical imaging seeks to provide the clinician with views of anatomical features, which aid in the diagnosis or treatment of the patient. Medical images of the anatomical features often include a portion of a surface of interest, called hidden surface portion, which is masked, not by a separate anatomical feature, but by another portion of the same surface, due to the fact that the surface is folded.
A system for the visualisation of surface irregularities of tubular structures, such as the colon, is already described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,030 “A System for Two and Three Dimensional Imaging of Tubular Structures in the Human Body” by Johnson et al. This patent relates to the visualization of surface irregularities of tubular shaped anatomical structures and allows solving problems related to regions of such structures that may be partly hidden during a virtual endoscopy. The inside of the colon is displayed via virtal colonoscopy, as if it had been collected using an endoscope travelling inside the colon. However, the user has to manually define the path of the virtual endoscope so that the detection of folds or of suspicious structures can be achieved. The efficiency of the detection depends upon the skill of the user.
There is a need for a means for the visualisation of folded anatomical surfaces, which enables hidden portions to be readily identified without effort on the part of the clinician.
It is to be understood that in this document, references to “anatomical features” or to “anatomical surfaces” are intended to be read broadly so as to designate any feature or surface in the body, whether human or animal, whether a vessel, an organ, a tissue or anything else, and include artificial elements implanted into or attached to the body.